The grand meeting hall of the sanctuary was a vast, circular room constructed of dark, polished oak and deep-veined marble.
At the far end of the room stood a massive, beautifully carved wooden throne.
Around a heavy, round mahogany table sat the highest-ranking members of Master Brados’s inner circle.
Kenshin sat rigid in his chair, feeling entirely out of place.
He was dressed in a clean, dark linen tunic that hid his scars, but he still possessed the tense, coiled energy of a caged predator.
His dark-green eyes darted around the room, tracking every subtle movement.
To his left sat Horuto, looking calm but slightly exhausted.
To his right stood Asami, leaning against the far wall.
She had returned after her angry departure, her icy blue eyes fixed firmly on the floor.
At the head of the table, Brados sat upon his throne.
“So,” Brados began, his deep voice carrying a natural, commanding weight.
“Who are you, boy? Where are you from?”
Kenshin hesitated.
The memories of his past before the dungeon were fragmented, buried beneath a decade of pain and alchemy.
“I… I do not know where I am from.”
Horuto and a newly arrived Takashi walked into the room, taking their places near the table.
Brados gestured slightly.
“Takashi, go and bring Asami closer to the table.”
Asami huffed, crossing her arms.
She pushed herself off the wall, walking forward with her usual strict elegance, and took a seat opposite Kenshin without saying a word.
“Kenshin,” Brados prompted gently.
“Tell us what you remember.”
Kenshin took a slow, deep breath.
He looked down at his scarred hands, the phantom pain of the iron tongs still echoing in his mind.
And so, he told them.
He spoke of his beautiful mother, Asuka, and his sisters, Ren and Akari.
He spoke of the day his father took him down into the subterranean vault.
He described the endless cycle of the black-and-white masked torturer named Null, the bone needles, the acidic alchemy, and the impossible demand to count backward from 700,000.
He explained how he eventually discovered that his body had been forced into a state of absolute, rapid regeneration, rendering him practically immortal to physical damage.
He did not know how many family members he truly had left.
He only knew that Zenjiro had put him in that hell, and that Null was the architect of his suffering.
When Kenshin finally finished, a heavy, suffocating silence blanketed the grand hall.
Even Asami, who had looked upon Kenshin with nothing but disdain just hours ago, had a slightly softer, deeply troubled expression on her beautiful face.
Takashi broke the silence, his light green eyes wide.
“So… you can perfectly regenerate yourself. And you likely possess many other latent abilities that even you do not know about yet.”
Brados rested his chin on his large, strong hand, his dark eyes shadowed in deep thought.
“Horuto.”
“Yes, Master,” Horuto answered instantly.
“Take our special senior guard unit. Take Kenshin with you,” Brados ordered.
“Kenshin will guide you to where that dungeon is located. I want that subterranean vault searched thoroughly.”
With that, Brados stood from his throne, his dark mantle shifting, and walked out of the meeting hall.
Asami’s rigid posture relaxed just a fraction.
She cast a brief, conflicted glance at Kenshin before turning and walking out of the room, her midnight-blue hair trailing behind her.
-Break-
An hour later, Kenshin led Horuto and fifty heavily armed, elite senior guards through the winding, cobblestone streets of the Underward.
They approached the grand estate of Zenjiro.
The towering stone walls seemed larger and more imposing than Kenshin remembered.
To his surprise, there were no guards posted at the gates.
The massive iron doors were slightly ajar.
Kenshin led the unit inside, walking down the familiar, spiraling stone stairs.
The cold, damp air instantly sent a jolt of terror down Kenshin’s spine, but he forced himself to keep moving.
They reached the heavy iron door of the dungeon.
Horuto pushed it open.
The room was completely empty.
The iron interrogation chair was gone.
The wooden tables were gone.
The bloodstains had been meticulously scrubbed from the stone floor.
It was as if the eleven years of torture had never happened at all. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Something is not right,” Horuto murmured, his olive-green eyes scanning the dark corners of the vault.
He turned to two of his guards.
“Take Kenshin back to the sanctuary immediately. I am going to stay here and search the perimeter for hidden passages.”
Kenshin did not argue.
The very walls of the dungeon made his racing heart pound in his ears.
He followed the two guards back up the spiraling stairs.
Horuto remained below, drawing one of his heavy jade swords.
He began tapping the hilt against the stone blocks, listening for hollow echoes.
Suddenly, a wet, heavy thud echoed from the top of the stairs.
Horuto froze.
He slowly turned around, his eyes narrowing.
“Guards? Report.”
Absolute silence.
Then, the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the stone floor.
Horuto gripped his jade sword tighter, slowly ascending the spiraling staircase.
As he reached the top landing, his blood ran cold.
All forty-eight of his elite senior guards lay dead on the floor.
Their armor had been cleanly sliced through, their throats cut with surgical, horrifying precision.
It had happened in the blink of an eye.
Standing in the center of the carnage, wiping a streak of fresh blood from his dark glove, was a man in a long, structured dark robe.
He wore a mask, split perfectly down the middle—half pitch black, half stark bone-white.
“You must be the Null that Kenshin mentioned,” Horuto said, his voice dangerously low.
Null did not speak.
He slowly drew a dark, jagged fantasy broadsword.
The blade instantly began to crackle with intense cyan-blue lightning, emitting a heavy, terrifying magical pressure.
Horuto’s eyes glowed with his green Kratognus aura.
“Hula!”
In an instant, his second heavy jade sword materialized in his other hand.
The spectral chains anchored themselves deeply into his back.
“I hope you will not die too quickly,” Horuto sneered.
With blinding speed, Horuto hurled himself forward.
-Break-
Back at the sanctuary, Kenshin walked into the courtyard alongside the two guards.
Brados and Takashi were standing near the training yards, discussing strategy.
“Master,” one of the guards reported, bowing.
“The dungeon was completely scrubbed clean. Horuto ordered us to bring the boy back while he searches the area.”
Brados frowned, his dark eyes narrowing.
“I see… Takashi, take a squad of guards with you and head to the estate immediately as backup. Do not take any chances.”
“Yes, Master,” Takashi said, bowing before rushing off to gather his men.
Brados turned toward the inner sanctum.
“Asami!”
A moment later, Asami stepped out onto the balcony, looking down at them.
“Yes, Master?”
“Show Kenshin to his permanent quarters,” Brados commanded.
Asami clicked her tongue, an irritated sound.
“Why should I? Tell one of the guards to show him.”
Brados looked up, his expression hardening.
“Asami… did I hear you question an order?”
Asami gritted her teeth, her icy blue eyes flashing.
“No, Master.”
She turned and began walking toward the living quarters.
Kenshin quietly followed her, keeping a respectful distance.
-Break-
A brutal, thunderous battle raged within the grand halls of Zenjiro’s estate.
Green and cyan lightning clashed violently as Horuto and Null exchanged high-speed blows.
The sheer kinetic force of their strikes shattered the marble pillars and cratered the floors.
He is stronger than I anticipated, Horuto thought, parrying a devastating overhead slash from Null’s cyan-lit broadsword.
How can someone stop my heavy jade strikes with just one hand?
Horuto spun, launching both of his heavy jade swords outward.
“Kratognus Wave: Grial!”
The thick blades glowed brilliantly.
Horuto crossed his arms, pulling the spectral chains tight.
The twin swords violently snapped backward, catching Null off guard.
Squelch.
The heavy jade blades cleanly sliced through both of Null’s arms just below the shoulder.
The severed limbs hit the floor, blood spraying across the marble.
Horuto exhaled a heavy breath, reeling his swords back to his hands.
The fight was over.
“Huh, what is happening here?”
Horuto turned.
Takashi was walking casually down the corridor, his light green eyes scanning the destruction.
“This little assassin, Null, the one who tortured Kenshin, is here,” Horuto said, pointing to the armless masked man.
“He is finished, without his ar—”
Horuto’s words abruptly cut off.
A sharp, agonizing burning sensation erupted in his chest.
Horuto slowly looked down.
Protruding directly through the center of his chest plate was a jagged, steel blade.
He coughed, a thick surge of warm blood filling his mouth and spilling over his lips.
His hands went numb, the heavy jade swords clattering uselessly to the marble floor.
Horuto painfully turned his head backward, his olive-green eyes widening in absolute shock.
Takashi was standing directly behind him, holding the hilt of the sword that was currently impaled through Horuto’s heart.
“Why…?” Horuto choked out, blood dripping from his chin.
Takashi’s expression was blank, devoid of any camaraderie or brotherhood.
“It is a long game that you will never understand, Horuto. And do not worry… I will be the one to kill the Master next.”
As Takashi spoke, Horuto noticed something horrifying.
Takashi’s light green eyes were slightly hazy, a dark, wavy aura swirling within his pupils.
His eyes are not right…
Horuto thought, his vision beginning to blur as his legs gave out.
Does that mean…
Null is controlling his mind?
Horuto collapsed to his knees, his life force rapidly draining onto the cold floor.
Just then, the squad of guards Takashi had brought from the sanctuary rushed into the hall.
“Takashi! Boss!” one of the guards yelled, stumbling back in horror at the sight of Horuto impaled on the ground.
“What are you doing?!”
Takashi turned to the guards.
Without a word, he ripped the bloody sword out of Horuto’s back and lunged at his own men.
Horuto fell forward, his cheek pressing against the cold marble.
He was dying.
He knew he only had a few heartbeats left.
Using the last, desperate ounces of his fading magical aura, Horuto reached out with his mind, linking his remaining consciousness to the only person who could receive his telepathic message.
Asami…
-Break-
Miles away, in the upper towers of the sanctuary, Asami was walking down a quiet corridor, Kenshin trailing silently behind her.
Suddenly, Asami froze.
Her icy blue eyes snapped wide open.
She gasped, staggering sideways and bracing her hand against the stone wall as Horuto’s weak, blood-choked voice echoed directly into her brain.
Asami…
Takashi…
he is not in his senses…
he is slaughtering his own guards…
he—
The mental link violently snapped, leaving behind nothing but dead static.
“Horuto?!” Asami cried out, spinning around.
Without a moment of hesitation, Asami vanished into a blur of pure, violet hyper-speed, leaving a startled Kenshin alone in the corridor.